I can vividly recall sitting inside the Nautilus during my first visit to Walt Disney World
in July 1983. I remember hearing the echoes of Captain Nemo’s voice
yelling, “Dive, dive!” as I embarked upon my journey through liquid
space. The attraction quickly became one of my favorites; I even drew a
picture for a book my mom and I made after that first trip. I’m happy
to share that new Vinylmation and Disney pins celebrating this classic attraction are coming soon to Disney Parks.
I spoke with Disney Design Group artist Caley Hicks about her work on
the new Vinylmation figure set pictured above. During our conversation, I
discovered she also had fond childhood memories of the attraction.

“When I was younger, I visited the Magic Kingdom
each month with my dad,” explained Caley. “I loved the 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea attraction, particularly the mermaids. I was eager to
design something for Vinylmation to pay tribute to the attraction.”

Caley, whom you may recall from Vinylmation – Flags fame,
chose the iconic squid attack for the nine-inch figure. She explained
the difficulty in capturing the details of the squid on the Vinylmation
form.

“I learned that getting the squid to wrap around the Mickey Mouse
shaped form was more difficult than I first thought,” continued Caley.
“I used countless sheets of tracing paper to get the image correct. The
finished figure looks wonderful, so it was worth the effort.”

Caley shared the artwork for the deconstructed nine-inch figure. Wow!
I wouldn’t even know where to begin as I can’t draw a straight line.
This limited edition 1,000 set also has a 3-inch figure designed by
Disney Artist Jason Zucker that resembles a diver. Look for it to be
released via the Disney Parks Online Store only on Aug. 12, 2011.

Since the introduction of Disney Pin Trading in 1999, the Disney Pin
Team has featured 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on a variety of pins.
One of my favorites was released in January 2005, and featured a piece
of an actual porthole from the attraction ride vehicle. It was the
first in a long line of the “Piece of Disney History” pins, and is still
one of the most sought-after pins today.

There are new pins on the horizon including two pins that will be released at The Florida Project
in September. I think my favorite from the upcoming event is the cast
member costume replica pin designed by Chris Chapman. It will be part
of a boxed set of icon pins inspired by Fantasyland. The Classic “D”
pin featuring the squid attack scene will be released on Oct. 27, at the
Walt Disney World Resort.

By the way, I took the photograph above of the submarines as seen
from the Skyway in 1983! I never imagined back then I’d be sharing it
with you today. I would love to hear your memories from that great
undersea voyage.